RAW – Hender Scheme Exhibition Recap

September 18, 2016 by Angelique Chmielewski

What an incredible show! Last week we held our RAW exhibition – a showcase of leather homewares by Hender Scheme. Here’s a quick recap of the event, starting with some images of us setting up the show with the Hender Scheme team and leaving off with images of the opening reception.

Hender Scheme designer Ryo Kashiwazaki and his team arrived a couple days before the exhibition and hand carried a few delicate items with them for the show, including their new leather rugs and cushions.

Gota is one of Hender Scheme’s designers and makers brought on by Ryo as the company began to expand several years ago. We first met Gota during this trip. He handcrafts many of the in-house Hender Scheme homeware items like the rugs. There he is above inspecting one of his creations. The alternating smooth and rough leather pieces are hand cut and hand-patched utilizing the same techniques derived from the making of Hender Scheme’s footwear collection wherein the soles of each shoe requires layering multiple pieces of cow leather to form a durable base.

Steve and I got married over the summer so Ryo surprised us with the sweetest wedding gift – a couple pairs of his signature shoes. Steve got a pair of the Manual Industrial Product 14s and I got a pair of the Hender Scheme x Karimoku sandals. We can’t wait to see them age over the years.

The team also presented us with two lanterns that they had custom made at one of the many lantern workshops in the historic Asakusa district of Tokyo, an area that is also home to the Hender Scheme headquarters. One lantern displays “Nalata Nalata” in Japanese characters and the other means “Hender Scheme.” We hung them in the corner of our store in commemoration of our collaboration.

…And our good friend Stefan Ayon hand stitched a natural veg-tan leather cover for our entrance door handles. They look stunning and we’re going to keep them on for a bit to see how the leather holds up over time as a handle.

On opening night, Ryo surprised everyone by showing up in a traditional Japanese kimono and setta slippers. He looked amazing!

The opening reception kicked off to a great start. With SŌTŌ sake sponsoring the refreshments, the drinks were flowing all night. The sake is brewed in the Niigata region and is so smooth! If you live in New York you can get it at Bowery and Vine, a great liquor store around the corner from Nalata Nalata.

We were also lucky to have our talented friend Pablo Luis DJ the opening reception, which added the perfect vibe to the night. He created a mix exclusively for RAW that you can listen to here.

Although the ever so humble Ryo was caught off guard by fans that wanted to have their Hender Scheme pieces signed by the designer, he was more than happy to give autographs to anyone who asked. These natural veg-tan leather pieces already look so beautiful as they age, we can’t even imagine how much added value they will have down the road with the addition of a rare autograph.

The Hender Scheme x Karimoku chair was prominently displayed in the store which gave people the opportunity to take it for a test run. The chair is remarkably comfortable with a wood seat that feels sculpted in a way that hits all the right places and a leather panel that supports the lower back slightly.

All in all, the exhibition was great times! We had a blast hanging with the entire Hender Scheme team (pictured above) in New York for the week. Thank you to everyone who came out and to the people who were a part in making this show a success including Pablo Luis for the beats and our good friend Stefan Ayon who had camera in tow capturing candid moments during the event, not to mention that awesome leather door handle. Also special thanks to our friends Riza Arrieta and Faraday Okoro who kept sake in hand for all!

Exhibition items are still available for purchase and a selection will be made available online in the upcoming week. Feel free to contact us for additional information regarding a particular piece.